How to Say ‘It takes about 40 minutes.’ in Japanese
だいたい40分です。
daitai 40 pun desu
[dye-tie yon-joo poon dess]
💬 Usage Tip: [だいたい] softens the answer to "about/roughly," which is very common for travel times. [40分です] by itself literally says "it is 40 minutes," but naturally means "it takes 40 minutes" here.
Phrase Breakdown
だいたい
daitai
[dye-tie]
about; roughly
Shows that the time is an estimate, not exact.
空港までだいたい40分です。
It is about 40 minutes to the airport.
40分です
40 pun desu
it is 40 minutes
States the duration politely using 分 for minutes.
駅まで40分です。
It’s 40 minutes to the station.
Words in this phrase
40
40
[yon-joo]
forty
The number 40 in a polite duration answer.
バスでだいたい40分です。
It is about 40 minutes by bus.
分
pun
[poon]
minute(s)
Counter for minutes used with travel duration.
ホテルまでだいたい40分です。
It is about 40 minutes to the hotel.
です
desu
[dess]
is; are
Polite copula completing the answer.
所要時間はだいたい40分です。
The travel time is about 40 minutes.
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